In the first of a two-part series, we’ll explain how track cars are cared for.

With the Formula 1 Grand Prix circus making it’s stop at our very own Sepang International Circuit next week, I thought it would be timely to share about track-cars and how detailing plays an important supporting role.

Make no mistake, the cars that you see particularly in high-profile motorsports events look good for a reason.

They need to look picture perfect for the media coverage that occurs.

There are essentially two types of track-going vehicles.

A fully dedicated track car that is used for circuit competition (usually not registered for road-use) and legal road-going cars that may or may not include tuning and performance upgrades for routine track-use and selective competition.

Having detailed and maintained both demographic requirements in AutoDetailer Studio over the many years, there are perceptible differences between the two.

Let’s start behind-the-scenes with the former.

From Formula 1 Grand Prix to single-make series, these track cars are built from the ground-up to carve through the circuit with aerodynamic wide-body panels, ground effects and flat road-hugging suspension.

They are typically transported from the workshop or storage containers to the track via low-profile flatbed trucks.

What sort of detailing requirements do these fully-dedicated track cars have when they are sent to us?

These are the main areas of interest:

Windshield - Driver visibility is of the utmost importance.

We typically remove oxidation and contaminants from the windshield that is a result of vulcanised rubber, tar and dirt bonding with the surface.

If the wipers are activated, the dirt will spread across the windshield reducing driver visibility and increasing the possibility of a mishap.

Rain increases further risk for the drivers.

A protective windshield laminate adds a sacrificial layer and is a safety reinforcement against stone chips from gravel overruns and chunks of rubber pieces disintegrating from tyres hitting the windshield (usually the only piece of glass as the rest of the windows are polycarbonate) at high velocity.

This reduces the frequency for windshield replacement.

Adding an all-weather coating to the windshield helps disperse dirt and water effectively.

Paint & Bodywork - Bodywork repairs are commonplace for dedicated track-cars and often between races require some form of fixing or repainting due to collision or gravel rash.

After these repairs are completed, we usually wrap these motorsports vehicles with 6.5Mil paintwork protection film as this will provide a solid foundation against stone-chip damage.

All-weather hydrophobic coating system will also repel tar, vulcanised rubber and track contaminants making it easier to care for each track car particularly with sponsor decal visibility.

Headlamps - We wrap the headlamps with our 6.5Mil headlamp protection film and it acts pretty much like the paintwork protection film or PPF in that it is a sacrificial layer designed to take the abuses of track and significantly reduce the need for constantly changing out damaged headlamps.

Our films have a high level of clarity enabling the headlamps to perform better and for longer too.

Wheels - Racecars generate large amounts of brake dust due to high-speed braking.

These brake dust are typically corrosive and can damage the surface of the wheels particularly the inner barrel.

Polishing the wheels to keep them clean and adding a layer of heat-resistant coating helps to preserve the wheel’s finish.

Engine - Having a clean engine allows the mechanics to observe any leaks and damages to seals, hoses and the internals.

Seats - Regular cleaning helps to upkeep the hygiene of tight-fitting bucket seats.

As you can now see, detailing is quite crucial for track cars.

In the next article, we’ll take a look at road-legal track-cars and learn how detailing works for them!

For more information, check out AutoDetailer Studio.